Peter Preston on press and broadcasting + Press Complaints Commission | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/series/peter-preston-on-press-and-broadcasting+pcc
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016Sat, 10 Dec 2016 01:08:49 GMT2016-12-10T01:08:49Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Impress is here to stay. Let’s quit the barricades and think anew about press regulationhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/30/impress-here-to-stay-fresh-thinking-needed
Set the Ipso and Impress editorial codes side by side and no one can see much difference. Apply those codes to current cases and there’s no obvious gap either<p>Ready, steady, woe! Remember Lord Justice Leveson’s overarching theme in that hallowed press regulation report of his? “A new system must be effective, and one of the key criteria of effectiveness is that it should include all major publishers of news (if not all publishers of newspapers and magazines).” He wanted “a single regulatory body that could establish a single set of standards on which the public can rely”. Well, good luck with that …</p><p>Before Leveson, there was the now derided Press Complaints Commission (PCC) – with Richard Desmond’s Express group and <em>Private Eye </em>sitting outside the tent.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/18/alan-rusbridger-press-phone-hacking-edward-snowden-surveillance-society-of-editors">Alan Rusbridger takes aim at press over phone hacking and Snowden</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/05/new-corp-20-lawsuits-fake-sheikh-conviction">News Corp faces lawsuits from 20 ‘Fake Sheikh’ targets in wake of conviction</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/11/phone-hacking-victims-win-house-of-lords-support-over-legal-costs">Phone-hacking victims win House of Lords support over legal costs</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/30/impress-here-to-stay-fresh-thinking-needed">Continue reading...</a>ImpressPress regulationNewspapers & magazinesMediaIpsoLeveson inquiryLeveson reportLord Justice LevesonUK newsMax MosleyPress Complaints CommissionLawNewspapersNational newspapersAlan RusbridgerSun, 30 Oct 2016 06:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/30/impress-here-to-stay-fresh-thinking-neededPhotograph: Dan Kitwood/APPhotograph: Dan Kitwood/APPeter Preston2016-10-30T06:00:01ZLeveson's legal eagles will repeat all the old mistakeshttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/dec/16/lord-justice-leveson-press-regulation-judges-lawyers
Putting lawyers in charge of the press regulator will lead to endless hearings and the stultified pace of the courtroom – just like the old, dismantled Press Council<p>Let's leave Lord Justice Leveson well to one side as the search for "independent" worthies to police his masterplan gets under way. We don't know how he came to be appointed head of his famous commission in the first place, or even (inns of court gossip) whether he was the lord chief justice's first choice. But we do know that Igor Judge said he chose Sir Brian because he "believed in the freedom of the press" (which, in all logic, argues that some other high court luminaries harbour no such beliefs).</p><p>But now see the great legal carpet of opportunity unrolling. Here's Labour's draft Leveson implementation bill, presented by Harriet Harman (a&nbsp;solicitor) and Charlie Falconer (a&nbsp;successful barrister). It features a team of verification experts who will inspect the new press regulatory body and validate its suggested light-touch tribunal body – which, according to<em> </em>Leveson, will also be staffed by retired judges and retired senior barristers. And where, while we're wading through <em>Who's Who</em>, can we find an independent chairman for the whole revised shooting match?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/dec/16/lord-justice-leveson-press-regulation-judges-lawyers">Continue reading...</a>Press regulationPress Complaints CommissionLord Justice LevesonIgor JudgeNational newspapersNewspapersLawRegulatorsNewspapers & magazinesMediaSun, 16 Dec 2012 00:06:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/dec/16/lord-justice-leveson-press-regulation-judges-lawyersPhotograph: Tim Rooke /Rex FeaturesThe lord chief justice, Lord Judge, who appointed Lord Justice Leveson: a candidate for the press regulatory body? Photograph: Tim Rooke /Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Tim Rooke /Rex FeaturesThe lord chief justice, Lord Judge, who appointed Lord Justice Leveson: a candidate for the press regulatory body? Photograph: Tim Rooke /Rex FeaturesPeter Preston2012-12-16T00:06:11ZThe press must keep a healthy distance from the police – for its own goodhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/16/hillsborough-police-media-contacts
If Hillsborough proves anything, it's that the media is far too quick to swallow whatever the police are spoon-feeding them<p>Lord Justice Taylor's Hillsborough inquiry (mostly) relied on what the police told him. When Kelvin MacKenzie's <em>Sun</em> lashed the Liverpool fans, he (completely) relied on police say-so too – and now offers "profuse apologies".</p><p>When the Press Complaints Commission pushed aside <em>Guardian</em> evidence on phone-hacking, it did so because the police said there was nothing new here. When the press raised brutal questions about the McCanns, they echoed Portugal's police. And Christopher Jefferies, the teacher falsely pursued for the murder of Joanna Yeates? Another duff police tip, averred the (then) editor of the <em>Daily Mirror</em>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/16/hillsborough-police-media-contacts">Continue reading...</a>Hillsborough disasterFootballJoanna YeatesUK newsMadeleine McCannPress Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesNational newspapersNewspapersMediaSat, 15 Sep 2012 23:06:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/16/hillsborough-police-media-contactsPhotograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Sportsphoto Ltd.The Hillsborough disaster. Whites Press Agency, which provided the most controversial stories to the Sun, said its reports on the tragedy were based on the claims of four senior police officers. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/SportsphotoPhotograph: Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Sportsphoto Ltd.The Hillsborough disaster. Whites Press Agency, which provided the most controversial stories to the Sun, said its reports on the tragedy were based on the claims of four senior police officers. Photograph: Stewart Kendall/SportsphotoPeter Preston2012-09-15T23:06:18ZLeveson leads the press to the last-chance saloon – againhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/17/leveson-last-chance-saloon-again
The time has come for Sir Brian to fix the problems of the press. But that's what Ross, Shawcross, Younger, McGregor and Calcutt wanted too<p>And so, as Westminster's stars of the great Strand show depart, mopping their brows, Sir Brian Leveson and his team go back to basics. They have to come up with a new template for press regulation this autumn. They, like almost everyone else these past nine months, have paid lugubrious homage to the ideals of press freedom (served up in mum's apple pie helpings). But now they need to cut mustard, not stir&nbsp;custard.</p><p>At which point, the grilling of Messrs Cameron, Hunt and Co begins to seem what it mostly was: a headline-creating, wave-making distraction from the fundamental task. You can go mad trying to define what Robert Jay QC calls "undue proximity" between politicians and journalists – or trying to regulate who sips cocktails with whom. But unless you're going to require journalists and bloggers to embrace such a pettifogging regime too, you're pottering down the blindest of alleys, regulating human nature until your wig falls off. However, one political witness at least said something truly germane to the main event.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/17/leveson-last-chance-saloon-again">Continue reading...</a>Leveson inquiryPrivacy & the mediaPress intrusionNewspapers & magazinesPress freedomPress Complaints CommissionNational newspapersNewspapersMediaSat, 16 Jun 2012 23:06:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/17/leveson-last-chance-saloon-againPhotograph: Jane Bown/ObserverLord Shawcross: one of Lord Justice Leveson's most eminent predecessors. Photograph: Jane Bown for the ObserverPhotograph: Jane Bown/ObserverLord Shawcross: one of Lord Justice Leveson's most eminent predecessors. Photograph: Jane Bown for the ObserverPeter Preston2012-06-16T23:06:02ZLeveson inquiry: controlling the media will finally come down to politics | Peter Prestonhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/02/lord-leveson-controlling-media-politics
Lord Leveson's ideas of an 'independent' regulation regime may fall foul of Westminster reality<p>Those verdicts on Jeremy Hunt? Infinitely predictable, m'lud. The <em>Times</em> thought Mr Hunt had "behaved appropriately" on his quasi-judicial outing; most of the rest of the press – including all those who tried to block the BSkyB bid – ruled otherwise. You can't see the culture secretary getting many summer party invites this year. But as for the other verdict that matters, the one where Sir Brian Leveson prescribes a new framework for press regulation, infinite unpredictability reigns.</p><p>You could see the Lord Justice's brows furrow as he dumped a little soliloquy of problems in Tony Blair's lap last week. Leveson appears increasingly wedded to a new "independent" regulation regime with statutory back-up and the right to settle disputes on privacy or libel quickly in a sort of small claims court way: an extended riff on the Irish model. But Dublin doesn't do standards and regulation in such a fashion. It's a complaints body, like every other relevant press body around the democratic world. Leveson's penchant for positive regulation – citing the Bar Council or Law Society as inspiration – isn't mainstream in any global context, just way out of line.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/02/lord-leveson-controlling-media-politics">Continue reading...</a>Leveson inquiryPress Complaints CommissionJeremy HuntPress intrusionPoliticsPress freedomNewspapers & magazinesMediaSat, 02 Jun 2012 19:25:52 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/02/lord-leveson-controlling-media-politicsPhotograph: Sean Dempsey/PALord Justice Leveson's emerging approach would involve complex Westminster debate. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PAPhotograph: Sean Dempsey/PALord Justice Leveson's emerging approach would involve complex Westminster debate. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PAPeter Preston2012-06-02T19:25:52ZLeveson inquiry: who will regulate while we wait for judgment?https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/18/who-will-regulate-wait-leveson
It may have seemed odd for Lord Hunt to shut down the Press Complaints Commission before Leveson reports. But reform will take time and the decks must be cleared as soon as possible<p>Lord Condon, cool and crisp, has been the best police witness at Leveson. Consider force indiscipline, he told the inquiry. "It's about human weakness and opportunity: those two are omnipresent. You get scandal, inquiry, remedial action, relaxation, complacency, scandal … and that's on a 20-year cycle." Exactly. So why does LJ Leveson think press regulation is, or can be, different?</p><p>"I will recommend what I perceive to be the most effective and potentially enduring system," he said last week: and "enduring" seems to be his favourite word. Leveson didn't appear to approve of Lord Hunt, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, scrapping that body before his own late autumn report. Any encouragement for him from on high "should not be taken as endorsement, let alone agreement".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/18/who-will-regulate-wait-leveson">Continue reading...</a>Leveson inquiryPress Complaints CommissionLord HuntNational newspapersNewspapersNewspapers & magazinesMediaSun, 18 Mar 2012 00:04:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/18/who-will-regulate-wait-levesonPhotograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesLord Justice Leveson: wants an enduring solution. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesLord Justice Leveson: wants an enduring solution. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesPeter Preston2012-03-18T00:04:09ZMurdoch's past horrors haunt future of press regulationhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/11/murdoch-press-regulation
A new Communications Act should try to cope with the pace of technological innovation – not worry about Rupert Murdoch's old tricks<p>The problem is knowing whether 2015 (with its promised new Communications Act) is the future – or the past. Harriet Harman, now shadow media secretary, instinctively looks back over her shoulder. The act would be "an opportunity to deal with difficult historical problems that have been left unaddressed for too long", she said last week. And the most difficult historical problem of the lot, of course, is called Murdoch. Too much power, too much influence, too many newspapers. Both Ofcom and Leveson are sniffing around. "It is clear that there needs to be change," says Harman. Ah yes! But not much else is clear.</p><p>For this, remember, is the world not just of "digital first", but of what US analysts are now calling the "post-post-laptop age". Watch Mail Online race towards 100m unique browser visits a month, or the <em>Guardian</em> not so far behind. Relish the world of news brought to you via print, mobile, tablet and desktop screen.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/11/murdoch-press-regulation">Continue reading...</a>Rupert MurdochNews CorporationPress Complaints CommissionLeveson inquiryiPadAppleHarriet HarmanNewspapers & magazinesInternetMediaPoliticsPress regulationSun, 11 Mar 2012 00:06:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/mar/11/murdoch-press-regulationPhotograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesLord Justice Leveson is preparing to reshape press regulation - does he need a technical adviser? Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesLord Justice Leveson is preparing to reshape press regulation - does he need a technical adviser? Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty ImagesPeter Preston2012-03-11T00:06:27ZRichard Desmond and Paul Dacre don't agree on the PCC – so call in Ofcomhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/richard-desmond-paul-dacre-pcc-press-regulation
The Press Complaints Commission need not be the only forum for newspaper regulation<p>The editor of the<em> Daily Mail</em> wants a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/06/paul-dacre-leveson-certifying-journalists" title="Guardian: Dacre calls for journalit certification">universal press card </a>available to those who work for responsible, regulated papers. That's his way of getting the proprietor of the <em>Expresses</em> and <em>Stars</em> to come in out of the cold. Richard Desmond, though, tells all who<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jan/12/leveson-inquiry-richard-desmond-peter-hill-live" title="Desmond at Leveson inquiry"> seek to solve this problem</a> that he only left the PCC in the first place because he couldn't abide the way Paul Dacre and mates ran it (and ran him down).</p><p>It does not seem likely, then, that Dacre's diplomatic way forward is primed for success. But is it even necessary? Desmond is signalling he is content with the new model PCC emerging from the mists. He also says he <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/30/richard-desmond-paul-dacre" title="Guardian: Desmond interview">wouldn't mind being regulated by Ofcom</a> if push came to shove. Which surely brings back the big tent notion first <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/06/richard-desmond-pcc-press-complaints-commission" title="Peter Preston: How Richard Desmond could learn to love press regulation">aired here last autumn</a>. There's a revised code, owned by the PCC or successor, but also stored in an Ofcom cupboard.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/richard-desmond-paul-dacre-pcc-press-regulation">Continue reading...</a>National newspapersRichard DesmondMediaPaul DacrePress Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesNewspapersBusinessPress regulationSun, 12 Feb 2012 00:04:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/richard-desmond-paul-dacre-pcc-press-regulationPhotograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersDaily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre arrives at the Leveson inquiry where he proposed press regulation by accreditation. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersPhotograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersDaily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre arrives at the Leveson inquiry where he proposed press regulation by accreditation. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersPeter Preston2012-02-12T00:04:32ZThe great and good shall inherit the media regulatorshttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/media-regulators-great-good
All the watchdogs seem to be led by ex-politicians or mandarins. Many of them do a splendid job – but are they really independent of government?<p>The word of the moment is "independent", signalling a wondrous purity of heart and intent. But watch lead counsel at the Leveson inquiry curl a sardonic lip when told that prospective members of a self-regulatory press body (ie, the PCC) can be asked if they believe in self-regulation before they are appointed. Independence or built-in bias? And here comes Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, laying out the basic requirements of his business: "Independence of political influence, independence from those regulated in governance and decision-making and clear, transparent processes" (among other necessary virtues). Now scratch your head.</p><p>If you have read Lord Rees-Mogg's autobiography, you may remember a scene where Sir Ian Trethowan, Tory-friendly BBC director-general, asks William to be the new deputy chairman of his governors. No, says Mogg, it's chairman or nothing, and off Trethowan trots to consult with the Iron Lady – who privately promises Mogg the top job once the then chairman, George Howard, packs up. Fortunately for William, the Arts Council slides his way before Howard's term ends, so the private pledge isn't redeemed. But ponder that episode on the Richards or Leveson sanctity scale. Transparency? Independence of political influence?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/media-regulators-great-good">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionOfcomLord PattenArchie NormanBBC TrustSun, 12 Feb 2012 00:04:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/12/media-regulators-great-goodPhotograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAThe career of Lord Patten, above left arriving at the Leveson inquiry with BBC director-general Mark Thompson, has been underpinned by his life as a Tory MP, minister and party chairman. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAPhotograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAThe career of Lord Patten, above left arriving at the Leveson inquiry with BBC director-general Mark Thompson, has been underpinned by his life as a Tory MP, minister and party chairman. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAPeter Preston2012-02-12T00:04:27ZLeveson inquiry needs a lesson in press regulation historyhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/05/leveson-inquiry-press-regulation-freedom
Another stab at reinvention risks bringing back the worst characteristics of previous regimes<p>The only advantage of being 10 years older than Lord Justice Leveson is that you can remember, first hand, why some of the things that mystify him came to pass. Bits of history, in short: the bits LJL is anxious to avoid as he strives to visualise an enduring framework for press regulation that might even bear his name. Why, he keeps inquiring, did sundry royal commissions and full-dress reviews, as staged since the war, yield so little lasting benefit? Why did recurring "disasters" blow them away?</p><p>Difficult questions with easy answers. Because history is littered with political attempts to muzzle the press. (It's a natural tension, manifest around the globe.) Because six years of war and censorship appealed to governments in search of a quieter life. Because our ruling classes didn't – in 1947 royal commission terms – relish "the large and expanding public for sensational newspapers" like the <em>Daily Mirror</em>. Because Profumo shook the establishment. Because Labour, in office, feared a Tory press.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/05/leveson-inquiry-press-regulation-freedom">Continue reading...</a>Leveson inquiryPress freedomPress Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesNational newspapersNewspapersMediaPress regulationSun, 05 Feb 2012 00:03:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/05/leveson-inquiry-press-regulation-freedomPhotograph: Popperfoto/Getty ImagesChristine Keeler, a key figure in the 1963 Profumo scandal, which rocked the government and changed relations with the press. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Popperfoto/Getty ImagesChristine Keeler, a key figure in the 1963 Profumo scandal, which rocked the government and changed relations with the press. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty ImagesPeter Preston2012-02-05T00:03:01ZHow Richard Desmond could learn to love press regulationhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/06/richard-desmond-pcc-press-complaints-commission
Express boss does not like the Press Complaints Commission 'private club' – might he prefer statutory regulation?<p>You may start at the top, as so many press debates do these days, talking reform, purer self-regulation and public support. Or you may start at the bottom, as the editor-in-chief of Associated Newspapers labels the proprietor of Express Newspapers a "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/12/paul-dacre-leveson-speech" title="Guardian: Dacre speech">businessman who made his money from porn</a>" while the man who will probably never be Lord Desmond of Golders Green describes Paul Dacre as "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/30/richard-desmond-paul-dacre" title="Guardian: Desmond interview">that miserable fat git</a>". But, like the secretary of state for the media, you'd probably be best starting slap bang in the middle of this fine mess.</p><p>It isn't the biggest issue in town. It's certainly not the most elevated or principled one. But with or without Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry, no proper system of press regulation can carry any sort of authority if four national newspapers sit balefully outside. The Press Complaints Commission, or any successor body, needs Richard Desmond. How on earth can he be propelled back on board?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/06/richard-desmond-pcc-press-complaints-commission">Continue reading...</a>Newspapers & magazinesPress Complaints CommissionNational newspapersNewspapersExpress NewspapersRichard DesmondPaul DacreMediaSun, 06 Nov 2011 00:06:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/06/richard-desmond-pcc-press-complaints-commissionPhotograph: Tom Stoddart/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesRichard Desmond has made it clear he does not want to be regulated by rivals on the PCC. Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Tom Stoddart/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesRichard Desmond has made it clear he does not want to be regulated by rivals on the PCC. Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesPeter Preston2011-11-06T00:06:46ZLord Hunt will discover he is in some very muddy watershttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/16/lord-hunt-press-complaints-commission
The new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission is smart and shrewd – but a stranger to Fleet Street<p>Who will be the lead tenor in the Complaints Commission drama? Why, Lord Hunt of Wirral (aka David Hunt, three times a Tory cabinet minister but never, alas, a really big cheese). He's a commercial lawyer, an experienced regulator and, in political terms, a 69-year-old blast from the past. He doesn't have much of a public profile. When he moves, nothing shakes. But now he's got at least a year's worth of hard shaking to get on with. Can Hunt, within the timeframe of Leveson's report, put in place a reformed PCC that ticks so many boxes nobody needs to scrap it and start again?</p><p>Let's hope so. He's a smart, shrewd operator. He'll have Lord Black of Brentwood, Paul Dacre and other heavy hitters behind him. But it's a daunting task for someone who's never splashed in the muddy waters of press regulation – or glimpsed the horrors of building an <em>FT-Sun</em> consensus that can endure once cold winds start to blow.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/16/lord-hunt-press-complaints-commission">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionNational newspapersNewspapersNewspapers & magazinesMediaLord HuntSat, 15 Oct 2011 23:07:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/16/lord-hunt-press-complaints-commissionPhotograph: Max Nash/Press AssociationLord Hunt: can he produce a reformed PCC no one needs to scrap and start again? Photograph: Max Nash/Press AssociationPhotograph: Max Nash/Press AssociationLord Hunt: can he produce a reformed PCC no one needs to scrap and start again? Photograph: Max Nash/Press AssociationPeter Preston2011-10-15T23:07:31ZLet the PCC show its teeth as MPs' claws come out over human rightshttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/human-rights-get-pcc-on-the-case-peter-preston
When newspapers publish rubbish about human rights, they should be investigated by the Press Complaints Commission<p>Do cabinet ministers expect one another to get their facts straight? Even a Bolivian's pet cat knows the answer to that. No code of conduct, no proper grasp of the Human Rights Act, no <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/blog/2011/oct/06/leveson-inquiry-phone-hacking-live" title="">Leveson seminar </a>to ponder the frailties: just Theresa May and Ken Clarke having a spat. But it ought to be different when the press writes duff stories about the Act and politicians want them corrected.</p><p>Here's the attorney general Dominic Grieve berating the <em>Sun</em> and the <em>Telegraph</em> for two "hysterical untruths" – that the serial killer Dennis Nilsen was allowed pornography in his cell as a human right (the <em>Sun</em>) and that a suspected car thief trapped on a roof was given a fried chicken takeaway under HRA auspices (the <em>Telegraph</em>). Tosh! says Grieve. Utter tripe. They shouldn't be able to get away with it.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/human-rights-get-pcc-on-the-case-peter-preston">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesMediaHuman Rights ActHuman rightsLawDominic GrievePoliticsSat, 08 Oct 2011 23:06:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/human-rights-get-pcc-on-the-case-peter-prestonPhotograph: Martin Argles/GuardianNewspapers should not be able to get away with 'hysterical untruths' about the Human Rights Act, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, above, says. Photograph: Martin Argles for the ObserverPhotograph: Martin Argles/GuardianNewspapers should not be able to get away with 'hysterical untruths' about the Human Rights Act, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, above, says. Photograph: Martin Argles for the ObserverPeter Preston2011-10-08T23:06:21ZA fresh take on press regulation? No need – a PCC code is already in placehttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/02/press-regulation-pcc-code-conduct
A register of 'bad' journalists isn't a new idea nor is it necessary, as the Press Complaints Commission has codes on conduct<p>Ah! Let's have a national register of journalists so that hacks who do bad things can be "struck off", just like dodgy dentists. Not so much a new conference idea <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/sep/27/call-journalists-guilty-malpractice-struck-off" title="Guardian: Call for journalists guilty of gross malpractice to be 'struck off'">from the Labour party's media spokesmen Ivan Lewis</a> (one bewilderingly <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/28/independent-editor-backs-journalist-plan?newsfeed=true" title="Guardian: Independent editor backs plan for bad journalists to be 'struck off'">half-endorsed by the <em>Indie's</em> editor</a>) as a skilful reworking of the way General Franco kept Spain's press quiet for 30 years. Get a register, get a press card to be able to work, fall silent. For long, painful memories, read short-term foolishness. Some of the post-hacking thinking about press regulation is frankly crass, as Ed Miliband's office acknowledged when it repudiated Lewis 10 minutes later and left the hapless frontbencher (like Carlos Tevez) complaining he'd been misunderstood.</p><p>Nevertheless, "the industry should consider how it will deal with people found guilty of malpractice", Lewis said. And the only wonky thing there was that the industry did do that long since when, via the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), it asked that observance of the PCC code be written into individual journalists' contracts of employment – so that, in short order, you could be sacked for gross breaches of conduct.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/02/press-regulation-pcc-code-conduct">Continue reading...</a>Press freedomNewspapersPress Complaints CommissionNational newspapersPhone hackingNewspapers & magazinesMediaPress intrusionSat, 01 Oct 2011 23:01:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/02/press-regulation-pcc-code-conductPhotograph: Dave Thompson/PAIvan Lewis told the Labour party conference he believed the press needed a new system of independent regulation. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PAPhotograph: Dave Thompson/PAIvan Lewis told the Labour party conference he believed the press needed a new system of independent regulation. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PAPeter Preston2011-10-01T23:01:03ZPCC reform needs input from redtops and mid-market newspapershttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/25/peter-preston-pcc-autumn-debate
There was earnest input from Guardian, Times and FT at the debate on the PCC's future. But where were the Mail and Sun?<p>Call it the elephant that wasn't in the room, but something was missing as the great autumn debate about the future, if any, of the Press Complaints Commission got under way last week. Venue: the magnificent Banqueting House in Whitehall. Audience, assembled by Reuters and the irrepressible Harold Evans: some 400 movers and shakers. On the stage, alongside assorted parliamentarians: three daily newspaper editors (<em>Guardian</em>, <em>Times</em> and <em>FT</em>).</p><p>There was agreement on the need for vigorous reform. There was enthusiasm when Lord Lester QC talked standards and codes rather than statutory retribution. But you couldn't help wondering how the debate might have gone had another panellist, the man we must now call Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull, been discussing coalition, not press, politics. What, a party with 757,000 blinking votes trying to tell a party with seven ruddy million how to behave? Get real, Lib Dems!</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/25/peter-preston-pcc-autumn-debate">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionBusinessDaily MailDaily ExpressThe SunFinancial TimesSat, 24 Sep 2011 23:07:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/25/peter-preston-pcc-autumn-debatePhotograph: Billy Farrell Agency/Rex FeaturesSir Harold Evans chaired the statesmanlike debate on PCC reform, but some voices were missing. Photograph: Billy Farrell Agency/Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Billy Farrell Agency/Rex FeaturesSir Harold Evans chaired the statesmanlike debate on PCC reform, but some voices were missing. Photograph: Billy Farrell Agency/Rex FeaturesPeter Preston2011-09-24T23:07:05ZWanted: a coherent job description from the PCChttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/21/wanted-a-coherent-job-description-from-the-pcc
The Press Complaints Commission is advertising for a new boss at a time when its own future is hardly set in stone<p>There are horses and there are carts… and there is an ad seeking a new chair for the Press Complaints Commission during a time of "regeneration and renewal". Central to the success of any candidate "will be an ability to think strategically about how the commission should develop to take account of public, parliamentary and judicial concern about the efficacy of self-regulation, and to carry the industry with him or her during a period of change".</p><p>In short, if you want the job, you'll need to define it and carry Lord Justice Leveson, David Cameron, Paul Dacre, John Whittingdale and a cast of thousands along with you. Somehow you can't help thinking that the people who run and pay for the PCC need to get a few things of their own in place first.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/21/wanted-a-coherent-job-description-from-the-pcc">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesMediaNational newspapersNewspapersSat, 20 Aug 2011 23:05:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/aug/21/wanted-a-coherent-job-description-from-the-pccPhotograph: Rex FeaturesBaroness Buscombe, outgoing chair of the Press Complaints Commission. Photograph: Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Rex FeaturesBaroness Buscombe, outgoing chair of the Press Complaints Commission. Photograph: Rex FeaturesPeter Preston2011-08-20T23:05:53ZPress regulation needs to be reformed, but not by settling old scoreshttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/24/peter-preston-pcc-phone-hacking
When it comes to pluralism, the Leveson inquiry is hardly a shining example<p>And so, as the saga pounds on, two fine, upstanding words are left behind. One is "pluralism", as in "hack the Murdoch empire down to size". The other is "independent", as in "enforce independent regulation of the press". Both words – mantras for Ed Miliband and David Cameron – define what the new Leveson judicial inquiry into all things deplorable is supposed to conclude.</p><p>Pluralism, now that the BSkyB bid is moribund? Neil Kinnock would like to go back to 1980, reconstitute a monopolies and merger commission and rewrite history. Ed and Dave (and Nick) are certainly minded to shrink any newspaper or mixed media company's share of the market, so that Rupert Murdoch would have to sell the <em>Times</em>, <em>Sunday Time</em>s or <em>Sun</em> to carry on trading in Britain. Even 10 years ago, when the demon king was ratherless prone to long pauses, I might have agreed. But today? None of this retribution-cum-righteous-indignation looks forward: most of it, like the facts of the hacking scandal, looks back.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/24/peter-preston-pcc-phone-hacking">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionNational newspapersNewspapersNewspapers & magazinesMediaRegulatorsBusinessLeveson inquirySat, 23 Jul 2011 23:06:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/24/peter-preston-pcc-phone-hackingPhotograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/APThe government wants to replace the Press Complaints Commission with a more 'independent' regulator. Above, sign outside News International's Wapping HQ. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/APPhotograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/APThe government wants to replace the Press Complaints Commission with a more 'independent' regulator. Above, sign outside News International's Wapping HQ. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/APPeter Preston2011-07-23T23:06:42ZLawyers won't press for a quick resolution at the PCChttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jun/19/lawyers-will-not-press-for-quick-resolution-at-pcc
The Press Complaints Commission is beefing up its board by hiring QCs and solicitors – with worrying implications for the speed of resolving complaints<p>Justice department ministers think the Press Complaints Commission could mediate on libel issues before outraged celebrities are allowed near a court of law. If you want a quick apology rather than a huge bill, you could knock on the PCC's door for starters.</p><p>Which seems like a good idea: except that when Lord McNally outlines his thinking, he talks of a "credible PCC" that commands "respect": and his boss, Ken Clarke, agrees. Time to beef up the secretariat, the rules, the penalties.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jun/19/lawyers-will-not-press-for-quick-resolution-at-pcc">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionNewspapers & magazinesMediaNational newspapersNewspapersSat, 18 Jun 2011 23:04:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jun/19/lawyers-will-not-press-for-quick-resolution-at-pccPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPeta Buscombe, one of a growing number of lawyers at the top of the PCC. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPeta Buscombe, one of a growing number of lawyers at the top of the PCC. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPeter Preston2011-06-18T23:04:30ZWhen superinjunctions fail, the PCC won't save privacyhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/29/pcc-press-freedom
Ryan Giggs should have called the Press Complaints Commission, says its chair – but it's not that simple<p>Well, if the judges can't hack it, who can? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2011/may/04/pcc-davidcameron" title="">David Cameron wants a beefed up Press Complaints Commission</a>. The <em>Guardian</em>, no great fan of the PCC, nevertheless <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/26/pcc-privacy-law-injunctions-editorial?INTCMP=SRCH" title="">praises the privacy code it operates</a>. And Baroness Buscombe, the commission's chair, rather bravely tells <em>Newsnight </em>that "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/24/ryan-giggs-pcc-buscombe" title="">We could have helped Ryan Giggs if he'd come to us</a>, as people do every day. We have people coming to us all the time to ask us to stop information being published, and we have an almost 100% success rate in that."</p><p>Gosh, you say. Who needs to pay Keith Schilling £650 an hour when one 5p call to the PCC solves the problem? Why don't celebs in a gagging bind save their money and reputations the easy way? But, on examination, it isn't quite as simple as that.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/29/pcc-press-freedom">Continue reading...</a>Press Complaints CommissionPress freedomPrivacy & the mediaPeta BuscombeMedia lawNewspapers & magazinesNewspapersExpress NewspapersMediaRyan GiggsFootballSuperinjunctionsLawUK newsSat, 28 May 2011 23:03:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/may/29/pcc-press-freedomPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PABaroness Buscomb, who chairs the PCC, claims 'an almost 100% success rate in stopping information being published'. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PABaroness Buscomb, who chairs the PCC, claims 'an almost 100% success rate in stopping information being published'. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPeter Preston2011-05-28T23:03:01ZPCC editors failed to sound the phone-hacking alarmhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/06/phone-hacking-press-complaints-commission-comment
The Press Complaints Commission needs its editors to supply information on issues such as phone-hacking<p>So a shameful rash of phone-hacking (up till 2006, after which there's only been an odd unproven spot or two) prompts calls for more legal controls on the press. So the Press Complaints Commission launches its own inquiry, led by a former chief constable and a professor of law. So the big question for the PCC is: what went wrong?</p><p>Answer: in a way, not very much. The commission isn't an investigatory body. When the police and the information commissioner blew the whistle on newspapers' illicit blagging for bank accounts and so on before all this, there had been no complaints.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/06/phone-hacking-press-complaints-commission-comment">Continue reading...</a>Newspapers & magazinesNews of the WorldPhone hackingMediaPress Complaints CommissionNational newspapersNewspapersNews UKPress intrusionSun, 06 Feb 2011 00:04:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/feb/06/phone-hacking-press-complaints-commission-commentPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPCC chairman Baroness Buscombe – worried at lack of information. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPhotograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPCC chairman Baroness Buscombe – worried at lack of information. Photograph: Richard Aylmer-Hall/PAPeter Preston2011-02-06T00:04:09Z